Antique Bottle Club show offers lessons in history

Several dealers specializing in the glass milk bottles from area creameries displayed their collections at the show. Photo by Annie Gentile.

Several dealers specializing in the glass milk bottles from area creameries displayed their collections at the show. Photo by Annie Gentile.

Annie GentileReminder News

Somers Antique Bottle Club show offers lessons in history

Avid bottle collectors don't like to let a little snow and ice keep them from attending a good show, and that was certainly the case for members and collectors attending the 45th annual Somers Antique Bottle Club Show and Sale on Sunday, Feb. 22. Held at the St. Bernard School in Enfield, the show featured dozens of dealers and collectors of flasks and milk bottles, regional soda pop bottles, stoneware, insulators and related collectibles.

"There were a few dealers who were unable to make it because of yesterday's storm, but we've found bottle people will always try to come. They're anxious to get together to swap and buy and talk with each other," said Rose Sokol, who along with her husband Bob, has co-chaired the show for the past 42 years. This year was the Sokols' last show as organizers, and for their hard work and dedication, they were recognized with special thanks and a gift certificate to their favorite garden center.

"Forty-two years is a long time to run this show, and to do such a great job is unbelievable," said Ray Burke, president of the Somers Antique Bottle Club. "They'll still be with the club, but they won't be running the show. It's a lot of work, and we're hoping to convince someone new to take on the job."

"There's a lot of history in bottles, and I think that's what sparks interest in collectors," said Leo Goudreau, a club member and collector of early American glass from Ware, Mass. Goudreau said he has been participating in the show for about the last 30 years. "There are a lot of variables - different categories, colors and shapes."

Nineteenth-century tonic and bitters bottles with their labels still affixed advertising treatments and cures for an assortment of ailments were some of the most interesting and humorous items for sale. For example, a bottle made by the Poor Man's Bitters Company of Oswego, New York, claimed to be "a mild and pleasant tonic, alternative and stimulant" used to treat dyspepsia, liver complaints, jaundice, giddiness, nervous disorders, and even piles.

"You have to remember, this was the wild, wild, west and there was no FDA [Food and Drug Administration]," said Bob Latham, a dealer at the show who was selling an assortment of bottles, as well as small 19th-century-era promotional and testimonial pamphlets that druggists often provided in hopes that customers would purchase the remedies. "There was no TV or radio then, no billboards, no internet, so this was how people promoted their products." Latham said it was likely that druggists would promote home-remedy concoctions for a piece of the profits. "When it comes to making money, some things never change," he said.

Often the testimonial pamphlets employed grandiose wording, such as “Dr. Schenck's World Renowned Remedies for all diseases of the lungs, stomach, liver and bowels.” The testimonials claimed that Dr. Schenck’s remedies were “Proved in all climates. Tested by all nations. Crowned with the triumph of half a century of use.” Along with his bottle collection, Latham had a few such testimonial pamphlets for sale.

Trish Manfredi, a dealer from South Glastonbury, said one of the most successful medicine makers in the 1800s was Lydia E. Pinkham of Lynn, Mass., who marketed a tonic which was sold as a remedy for "female complaints." A shrewd businesswoman, Pinkham marketed her tonic by putting an image of her own face on the label and distributing endorsements from satisfied customers in what came to be called the "Pinkham Pamphlets." While her tonic was made up of an assortment of roots and herbs, it also had an alcohol content of 18 percent, an interesting turn, as Pinkham was also an active participant in the temperance movement.

"Most of these tonics had some herbs and spices that were known to help with ailments, but they were also based in alcohol, which made you feel good," said another dealer. "It was the whole snake oil era, and with a lot of these remedies, well, as the saying goes, 'Time heals and the doctor takes the fee,'" he said.